Ferrari F1 boss Fred Vassuer rues 'overreaction' with Red Bull culture comparison

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Ferrari boss rues 'overreaction' with Red Bull culture comparison

The teams have had contrasting fortunes in recent years

Rhys Thomas

Friday 16 August 2024 10:57

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has made a comparison with Red Bull as he looks to move his team back up towards the top of the standings.

The Scuderia started the season in decent form, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz scoring a win apiece, but have recently seen themselves bested to victories by McLaren and Mercedes as Red Bull's advantage evaporated.

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As well as steering the Ferrari ship back in the right direction this season, Vasseur faces the unenviable task of ending the Italian team's barren run, with no titles since winning the 2008 constructors' championship.

Vasseur has been widely praised since taking over as Ferrari team principal in 2023, and has acknowledged the team must do more to reach their targets.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is tasked with leading the team back to glory

Ferrari were elated in Monaco, but struggled in following races

Ferrari look to Red Bull example

Ferrari's rollercoaster season has featured the jubilant highs of Leclerc's home win in Monaco as well as pitiful lows including a dismal double DNF in Canada. Recent results have seen the team at times fourth best overall, whilst rivals reap the rewards of strong development.

“Internally, the mood is OK," Vasseur told Formula1.com. "For sure we wanted to get more, and probably we overreacted on some events, trying to get more. When you have an aggressive attitude, sometimes you get less. It’s where we have to stay calm.”

"We had four tough weekends [Canada, Spain, Austria and Britain] – the mood in the team was not good, as it was not what we wanted, but there was positivity about trying to catch up and understand why and fix it.” he continued.

“If I have to be proud of something, it’s not the result."

"The result is a consequence. It’s more the fact everybody is more keen to take risk, a bit less scared... The fact that we are trying to change a bit the mentality."

The winning mentality is something Ferrari appears to have lacked, a feeling which has deserted them since Michael Schumacher's five successive championships with the team in the early 2000s.

Michael Schumcher won five titles in a row with Ferrari between 2000 and 2004

Max Verstappen appears to be well on his way to amassing four consecutive titles with Red Bull, and perhaps Ferrari can look to their paddock-mates for inspiration.

“It’s a mindset for me," Vasseur continued. You can’t keep margin. You have to take risk everywhere [if you want to win]. This is a racing mentality. It is probably also the DNA of Red Bull. It’s where we need a step forward.”

“I think it would be a mistake to imagine there is a ‘To-Do’ list because it’s much more about a continuous improvement approach. We don’t have to do one thing and it’s done. My ‘To-Do’ list is to convince everyone at the factory it’s like this.

“Every single day, we have to try and do a better job than yesterday. It’s even more true today in F1, with such small gaps between the teams and the cars. Every single detail is making a huge difference in terms of results.

"The average between us and the guys in front is something like three or four hundredths of a second."

Those fine margins in deficit are biting Ferrari hard in one of the closest F1 seasons in memory. That said, it will not take a miraculous upgrade for the Scuderia to find themselves on the sunnier side of such margins once again.

Red Bull Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Mercedes McLaren FIA